2-3 days a week for her is 30 miles. That’s a lot of miles on those days she’s running. Equivalent to the daily mileage of someone running 70-80 miles.
I’m more curious if she means only 2-3 days of running workouts, or 2-3 days of running AT ALL.
For instance, could she be doing an easy run warmup, then cross train? Because 30 miles on 2-3 days of running is very long for an injury-prone runner.
In college I trained with plenty of runners who drop all easy runs once the racing season starts. They just run 2-3 hard workouts/races each week and the easy days are done in the gym, pool, or on a bike
Lots of guys I ran with were glass canons and struggled to stay injury free until they dropped easy group runs. Once they were able to show up to races 100% healthy they had breakout seasons
If one of the title contenders on the men's side said the same thing, no one would believe it. No one. Tell me I am wrong. Nico young, Ky Robinson, Habtom Samuel, Graham Blanks: "I run 3 days a week and use the elliptical" ya right! Sure you do
Disagree, if you can cross train like an animal and get in enough volume on workout days I think it's possible. It works for 6k and down I'm sure, but I don't see that holding up if she ever moved up to 10k or marathon.
“It is time”. I’m pretty positive your athlete posted on here about you, if you use the same username over and over…long story short, nobody on here should be listening to your advice based off that athletes concerns…
Workouts are the foundation for success. You do not get fast without them and you can get quite fast without the mileage. She simply cannot run more mileage and stay healthy. However, by using the elliptical, swimming, and other machines, she can get something close to the equivalent of a high mileage athlete without the pounding. Don't forget that this is a very talented athlete who ran 10:10 for the 3200m from out of a middling Tampa Bay area program where the typical best female runner is something like 19-21 for 5k xc. She is a high responder to training.
is her cross training all on elliptical or does she do cycling and other activities too?
She has said before that a lot of days are 80 minutes on the elliptical and 40 minutes in the pool. She also uses the arc trainer. Timewise she probably works out more than anybody else.
2-3 days a week for her is 30 miles. That’s a lot of miles on those days she’s running. Equivalent to the daily mileage of someone running 70-80 miles.
I’m more curious if she means only 2-3 days of running workouts, or 2-3 days of running AT ALL.
For instance, could she be doing an easy run warmup, then cross train? Because 30 miles on 2-3 days of running is very long for an injury-prone runner.
I think the "30" was the answer to the most miles she did in a week
It’s possible. I’m male and limped each day from my dorm to practice for 3 years in college in the 90s. While my teammates went on long runs, I lived on the Nordic track, Stairmaster, and stationary bike. My only running was track workouts and races. Was All-American all 3 years off ~20 miles of actual running per week.
Halfway through college I came off a six-month injury with three runs a week, all on grass and dirt. I rode my bike other days and swam. I'd skipped spring track but in June/July I PR'd at the mile, 3K, 5K, and 10K. My 3, 5 and 10 times were faster than any of our team ran that spring.
I wore road shoes for the 5 and up. The mile, 3K and 5K were at all-comers meets. The 10K I ran at the end of an all-comers.
In the early Aughts, Josh Spiker was known for running 4:06 for the mile in high school on even lower mileage than Valby while doing the equivalent of over 100 mpw on the elliptical.
She has been running for a long time with a ton of mileage in her. Quality over quantity is enough for shorter races. All those junk miles probably can be replaced with cross training. I believe her.
In the early Aughts, Josh Spiker was known for running 4:06 for the mile in high school on even lower mileage than Valby while doing the equivalent of over 100 mpw on the elliptical.
didn't Roger Bannister train very little? 20-30 mpw? Not sure if that has been debunked.
2-3 days a week for her is 30 miles. That’s a lot of miles on those days she’s running. Equivalent to the daily mileage of someone running 70-80 miles.
I think she does cross training 6-7 days a week. She is putting in a lot of work, just only 203 days that involves running.
Like always I'll exaggerate here, but it's not that hard to understand. In a non race week 3 workouts
Mon 7 mile track workout - ladder workout
Wed 8 mile xc course workout 5 x 1 mile loop.
Sat. 15 mile long run.
Total 30 miles.
Tues Thur Fri Sun - 2 hrs each day of cross training in pool, bike, elliptical.
Do the regular running workouts, but do something else non impact to fill in all the usual easy recovery miles.
This is close to how a euro based top age group triathlete trains.